A Duty to Uphold
by Lyaliro
Summary: As Alucard appeared in her office as usual, Integra detected something amiss, something different in his demeanor. She shrugged it off as nothing, the mounds of paperwork skewing her judgement.


**A Duty to Uphold**

**By Lyaliro**

Disclaimer: I do not own Hellsing, blah, blah blah, I make no profit from this fanfic, etc. Kouta Hirano is a god, etc.

_A/N: This takes place in a sort of anime/manga void. Dunno._

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Looking disheveled and tired, her white button-up shirt all a-wrinkle and the suit jacket, seemingly in protest to this state, found a nice retreat atop her chair to gaze down unapprovingly. Untied and hanging loose over her neck, the night blue cravat still gripped its silver cross, reluctant to let it go. The dark lines underneath her eyes were carved in deeply and mercilessly by the claws of sleeplessness and caffeine. The ashtray on the desk was no longer an ashtray, but a small mountain claimed for the glory and prosperity of cigar butts and cinders. Earlier she was unaware of the fact that the end of a cigar lodged within it was still lit, and nearly caught aflame several important documents. And that incident was due to the fact she barely retained basic mental capacities and coordination, the paperwork draining her to near dry.

Since then, however, she had choked down several shots of espresso most graciously provided by Walter. Although the shape she was in was nowhere near the results of a good night's sleep, her eyes regained their sharpness and could, most importantly, discern words without them moving across the paper

Quite a battlefield, the desk was. Casualties strewn everywhere, half-read and half-comprehended. Some were even half-signed, if one could believe it. Bits of fragile crinkly white limbs, torn apart in anger, lay all around. Some had even turned black from skirting near the forbidden craggy mountain of ash. Some piles in particular were arranged like funeral pyres. The area around the trash can contained more garbage than the trash can itself. Long black coffins that used to contain ink were out as reminders of the great battle that had been fought, and as such were set side by side on the edge of the desk to be apart from the rest of the riff-raff. There was one, just one, neat little barracks on the desk corner to house the papers that had made it through unscathed, except for the scribble-scar on them that was reminiscent of a signature.

With a look of drearily smug triumph, those glacier blue eyes of hers appraised the document in her hand like an official declaration of surrender and treaty. She quickly and deftly signed on the dotted line before tossing it into the barracks with a flick of the wrist. It floated in easily enough, at first landing lopsidedly but sliding down to correct itself. Mentally she gave herself a silent cheer at the accuracy.

Though more than just a skosh exhausted, she decided to strain her resources to their limits by digging through the papers in an attempt to find her lighter. Chewing on the stub of a cigar, she looked quite thoroughly in the mess. She was just on the verge of giving up entirely when a white glove extended from the center of the desk, gripping a small device with the Hellsing coat-of-arms engraved into the side. Upon seeing this, Integra took it up and pulled a small cigar out of her shirt pocket to light.

After two satisfied puffs and the old stub added to the ash-mountain, the gloved hand sunk back into the wood. This was no surprise, being that Alucard often aided in trivial tasks as well as the major. Finally the vampire decided to show himself, albeit hanging from the ceiling. He lowered himself slowly, dark locks of hair emerging first from the black portal, missing the usual scarecrow hat. When his feet were left to come out, he stopped, his eyes level with his master's.

"Good evening, Integra," he said, questionable grin plastered on his features.

"Thank you, Alucard. Now, get off the ceiling," she replied, voice raspy from lack of use.

"As you wish." With that, he slipped back into the portal and came through the tiled floor to stand on his black boots. Her senses told her there was something off about the grin, a slight angle in the corner of it, perhaps, or a wrinkle in the face where there hadn't been for a long time. Or maybe it was because of the decade she had spent with the midian? She, herself, had gained to some degree the ability to detect his presence and intention. Usually it was nothing more than a small alarm going off in her mind. Good humor was in him while he stood there, mixed with its constant enigma. But, something amiss. A hint of other purposes? She was too spent to look into it as deeply as she should have, and thus shrug it off as unimportant.

"Was there not a mission today?"

"Disgusting FREAKS. Taken care of." His face contorted into a snarl, details of his white fangs showing frighteningly well in the darkness.

"The police girl?"

"She performed better than I had thought. But, she will still not drink of blood."

"Why choose a toy like her?"

An amused laugh emitted from his throat, a laugh so familiar that she had learned to expect it, "Why not? It was a whim."

Again, lacking the energy to reprimand her servant, she merely leaned back into the stiff chair, gnawing on the cigar from the side of her mouth.

Alucard stepped forward to the desk, shuffling through the papers with a curiosity. His red eyes scanned over the bold black print. Finding nothing in particular of interest, he simply stated, "So this is what you've been up to. Strange humans, subjecting themselves to paperwork."

Integra waved a hand vaguely through the air, her arm immediately falling to the armrest after such a daring maneuver. "I'm sure you remember this time of year as the time when torrents of forms, documents, and–" she scoffed, "–party invitations come in." Her head inclined slightly to the right, indicating the trash can that had gorged itself.

He chuckled wryly and walked around to stand beside his master. His wrist he flicked at the trash can, flames instantly sprouting up to eat away the paper hungrily. With another flick of the wrist the curtains opened, flooding the office with moonlight. The sable atmosphere which Integra so favored, lit only dimly by a desk lamp, was ruined. She muttered something inaudibly under her breath while rubbing her eyes to adjust to the new brightness.

The two, having had quite enough time to adjust to one another, were comfortable in each other's presence. Alucard usually had his attention focused in the woman, while Integra was seemingly absorbed in other subjects. She felt a tingle on the edge of her mind, not in the least muffled by a whanging headache. Crimson eyes bore into that cool, calculating brain in attempts to figure it out. This had happened hundreds, thousands of times before, yet the vampire was still baffled.

A silence that neither bothered, or needed, to break settled in. The master cycled through several cigars. Then, seven chimes rang out.

Integra pondered over the church bell-like tones for a moment before saying, "You should go to sleep. There have been rumors that the Vatican will try to take over Protestant lands in a huge sweep."

"There have been rumors for decades."

"If their army doesn't come, then Anderson surely will." She gestured at a small, fairly inconspicuous envelope in the pile on her desk, stamped with the words "NOT BOMB".

"Really, now?" A jubilant spark came into his eyes at the mention of Anderson.

"Don't toy with him. Eradicate him as soon as possible. Then the Catholics will have another demerit on their record for sending an agent to attack us. Do you understand me?"

The grin from earlier sprang onto his lips again, "Yes, my master."

"Good. Off with you, then."

"I'll stay a little while longer. The sun is no deadly enemy to me."

"Alucard. I order you to leave. I need rest, myself."

His muscles tightened at the mention of an order. The seal that bound him to the Hellsing family set his blood aflame. Though, he showed no visible signs of it. Every inch of his skin burned in forced loyalty.

"Why bow in submission to forms? Why endure this, powerless to the whims of those born in higher station than you? Why not escape to a place where you could be lord? Why do you live as a human?"

An anger that had built inside of him rushed forward. The pain of the seal heightened to the point of being unbearable, but he gritted his teeth and grabbed Integra by the wrist, whirling around and pinning her against the window. A feral instinct rose up in him as his hair lengthened to reach the floor, his fangs growing out to make closing his mouth impossible.

Contorted by agony that constantly doubled, his face drew into a scowl of rage and wild adrenaline. How could this woman, this woman that had already transcended her humanity so many times, how could she not give in to the temptation of vampirism? How dare she not accept such an offer, and an offer given by the No Life King, no less.

"Let go of me, vampire," she spat, fully awake from such a shock.

"Not until my fangs sink into your sweet virgin blood. Not until you drink of my blood and become my servant. Not until you know what it feels like to have such power."

"I will die before I become the servant of one of your kind!"

"Then you will get your wish, dear Integra. You will die before becoming mine."

A serpentine tongue reached out to the jugular vein in her neck, tracing over it lightly. His body shivered, though his insides felt as if they were being torn into oblivion. Her heartbeat rang strong as it ever did.

One of Integra's arms managed to free itself due to a sudden spasm his grip had. The freed hand reached into her shirt, pulling out from a hidden holster a small revolver inscribed with the words, "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer".

A dark tendril immediately leapt from his shoulder to restrict the arm's movement. However, Integra took no notice of this and pointed the gun at her own head, which was right next to Alucard's.

Remarkably calm, she said, "In this revolver is a bullet that can erase you from existence. I only have to think of a phrase, and then the gun will fire automatically and kill us both. Even if you do move, this bullet is bonded to your blood. It will find you."

"You're lying," he replied, but a note of uncertainty carried in his voice.

"Would you like to find out?"

Finding himself in quite a dilemma, the vampire Alucard kept his hold on Integra, unwilling to let go of such an opportunity. He thought to himself, "The Hellsing family could probably create such a device, one that could even destroy the likes of me. But, I would know, wouldn't I? I've watched over this house for years and nothing similar has come up." Not at all without doubts, he finally decided that he would partake of Hellsing blood. Just as he opened his mouth wide enough for his fangs to get clearance, the gun audibly clicked, as if being cocked.

"Are you that sure, Alucard? I know you don't want to die tonight."

He snarled viciously, then let his arms fall to his sides. His features returned to normal, although a buzzing was in his veins. In his eyes his fury smoldered.

Integra landed on her feet. She glared up at him, expression remaining passive but all her emotion channeled into that one look. She deftly hit him across the face with the butt of the revolver,

"Don't do that again. I am your master and you are my servant. And you will always be servant to the Hellsing family. Such is your fate, monster."

Alucard's fangs snapped at her once before he sank into the floor. This he still managed to do with half his face gone and smoke rising up from the gun wound.

The Hellsing collapsed into her familiar green chair, looking even more haggard. She felt for a drawer handle on her desk, then opened it to extract a barely used pipe and a tobacco tin. Only under extreme stress did she indulge in pipe smoking. Her shaky hands were barely able to fill the chamber without spilling the rich-smelling substance all over her lap. As she lit the pipe, her gaze wandered over to the large portrait of her father, Lord Hellsing, mounted on the wall. Such serene eyes he had, like hers, but less cutting. In them there was a turn for harshness, if the time came.

With a regret in her voice, she whispered, "I have a duty to uphold, but I don't know how long I can resist, father."

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_A/N: Hope you enjoyed it, this being my second foray into authoring Hellsing fanfiction. You don't have to review, but it would certainly make me feel better. (Or worse, depending.)_

_Second A/N: I just realized that you might like an explanation as to why Alucard was not explodified at the first chance. Well, to make a weapon that would be able to cause such destruction, I would assume that he would first have to be contained. In order to completely be contained, he'd have to be bound to the Hellsing line. Then they realized that he would be a powerful tool in their cause, and thus the special "Alucard-killer" was kept as a fail-safe._


End file.
